This thesis examines the challenges in creating a fully integrated optical receiver. Due to the nature of silicon, 850nm light exhibits a poor impulse response when directed at an on-die photodiode. Using a modified decision feedback equalizer with an infinite impulse response filter in the feedback path allows to eliminate the long tail of post-cursor ISI that is generated by the photodiode. Due to silicide depositions over the photodiodes, making them opaque, the receiver was tested using an electrical cable with similar frequency roll-off as that of a photodiode. A data rate of 3.7 Gbps was achieved and only limited by the amount of input reflections at the transimpedance amplifier. The receiver occupies an area of 0.23 mm^2 and consumes 51.3mW.

This thesis examines the challenges in creating a fully integrated optical receiver. Due to the nature of silicon, 850nm light exhibits a poor impulse response when directed at an on-die photodiode. Using a modified decision feedback equalizer with an infinite impulse response filter in the feedback path allows to eliminate the long tail of post-cursor ISI that is generated by the photodiode. Due to silicide depositions over the photodiodes, making them opaque, the receiver was tested using an electrical cable with similar frequency roll-off as that of a photodiode. A data rate of 3.7 Gbps was achieved and only limited by the amount of input reflections at the transimpedance amplifier. The receiver occupies an area of 0.23 mm^2 and consumes 51.3mW.

The advancements of semiconductor processing technology have led to the ability for computing platforms to operate on large amounts of data at very high clock speeds. To fully utilize this processing power the components must have data continually available for operation upon and transport to other system components. To enable this data requirement, high speed serial links have replaced slower parallel communication protocols. Serial interfaces inherently require fewer signals for communication and thus reduce the device pin count, area and cost. A serial communication interface can also be run at a higher frequency because the clock skew between channels is no longer an issue since the data transmitted on various channels is independent. Serial data transmission also comes with a set of drawbacks when signal integrity is considered. The data must propagate through a channel that induces unwanted effects onto the signals such as intersymbol interference. These channel effects must be understood and mitigated to successfully transmit data without creating bit errors upon reception at the target component. Previously developed adaptive equalization techniques have been used to filter the effects of intersymbol interference from the transmitted data in the signal. This report explores the modeling and implementation of a system comprised of a transmitter, channel, and receiver to understand how intersymbol interference can be removed through a decision-feedback equalizer realized in hardware. The equalizer design, implementation, and measurements are the main focus of this report and are based on previous works in the areas of integrated circuit testing, channel modeling, and equalizer design. Simulation results from a system modeled in Simulink are compared against the results from a hardware model implemented with an FPGA, analog to digital converter and discrete circuit elements. In both the software and hardware models, bit errors were eliminated for certain amounts of intersymbol interference when a receiver with decision-feedback equalization was used instead of a receiver without equalization. / text

At a communications receiver the observed signal is a corrupted version of the transmitted signal. This distortion in the received signal is due to the physical characteristics of the channel, including multipath propagation, the non-idealities of copper wires and impulse noise. Equalization is a process to combat these distortions in order to recover the original transmitted signal. Roughly stated, the equalizer tries to implement the inverse transfer function of the channel while taking into account the channel noise. The equalizer parameters can be tuned to this inverse transfer function using an adaptive algorithm. In many cases, the algorithm uses a training sequence to drive the equalizer parameters to the optimum solution. But, for time-varying channels or multiuser channels the use of a training sequence is inefficient in terms of bandwidth, as bandwidth is wasted due to the periodic re-transmission of the training sequence. A blind equalization algorithm is a practical method to eliminate this training sequence. An equalizer adapted using a blind algorithm is a key component of a bandwidth efficient receiver for broadcast and point-to-multipoint communications. The initial convergence performance of a blind adaptive equalizer depends on the higher-order statistics of the transmitted signal. In modern digital systems, Tomlinson-Harashima precoding (THP) is often used for signal shaping and to mitigate the error propagation problem of a decision feedback equalizer (DFE). The concept of THP comes from pre-equalization. In fact, it is a nonlinear form of pre-equalization, which bounds the higher-order statistics of the transmitted signal. But, THP and blind equalization are often viewed as incompatible equalization techniques. In this research, we give multiple scenarios where blind equalization of a THP-encoded signal might arise. With this motivation we set out to answer the question, can a blind equalizer successfully acquire a THP-encoded signal? We investigate the combination of a Tomlinson-Harashima precoder on the transmitter side and a blind equalizer on the receiver side. By bounding the kurtosis of the THP-encoded signal, we show that THP actually aids the initial convergence of blind equalization. We find that, as the symbol constellation size increases, the THP-encoded signal kurtosis approaches that of a uniform distribution, not a Gaussian. We investigate the compatibility of blind equalization with THP-encoded signals for both SISO and MIMO systems. In a SISO system, conventional blind algorithms can be used to counter the distortions introduced in the received signal. However, in a MIMO system with multiple users, the other users act as interferers on the desired user's signal. Hence, modified blind algorithms need to be applied to mitigate these interferers. For both SISO and MIMO systems, we show that the THP encoder ensures that the signal distribution approaches a non-Gaussian distribution. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we study the effects of Tomlinson-Harashima precoding on the performance of Bussgang-type blind algorithms and verify our theoretical analysis. The major contributions of this thesis are: • A demonstration that a blind equalizer can successfully acquire a THP-encoded signal for both SISO and MIMO systems. We show that THP actually aids blind equalization, as it ensures that the transmitted signal is non-Gaussian. • An analytical quantification of the effects of THP on the transmitted signal statistics. We derive a novel bound on the kurtosis of the THP-encoded signal. • An extension of the results from a single-user SISO scenario to multiple users and a MIMO scenario. We demonstrate that our bound and simulated results hold for these more general cases. Through our work, we have opened the way for a novel application of training sequence-less equalization: to acquire and equalize THP-encoded signals. Using our proposed system, periodic training sequences for a broadcast or point-to-multipoint system can be avoided, improving the bandwidth efficiency of the transceiver. Future modem designs with THP encoding can make use of our advances for bandwidth efficient communication systems.

This paper investigates the effect of parameter selection for the decision feedback equalization (DFE) on communication performance through a dispersive underwater acoustic wireless channel (UAWC). A DFE based on minimum mean-square error (MMSE-DFE) criterion has been employed in the implementation for evaluation purposes. The output from the MMSE-DFE is input to the decoder to estimate the transmitted bit sequence. The main goal of this experimental simulation is to determine the best selection, such that the reduction in the computational overload is achieved without altering the performance of the system, where the computational complexity can be reduced by selecting an equalizer with a proper length. The system performance is tested for BPSK, QPSK, 8PSK and 16QAM modulation and a simulation for the system is carried out for Proakis channel A and real underwater wireless acoustic channel estimated during SPACE08 measurements to verify the selection.

Optimal decision directed equalization techniques for time dispersive communication channels are often too complex to implement. This thesis considers reduced complexity decision directed equalization that lowers complexity demands yet retains close to optimal performance. The first part of this dissertation consists of three reduced complexity algorithms based on the Viterbi Algorithm (VA) which are: the Parallel Trellis VA (PTVA); Time Reverse Reduced State Sequence Estimation (TR-RSSE); and Forward-Backward State Sequence Detection (FBSSD). The second part of the thesis considers structural modifications of the Decision Feedback Equalizer (DFE), which is a special derivative of the VA, specifically, optimal vector quantization for fractionally spaced DFEs, and extended stability regions for baud spaced DFEs using passivity analysis are investigated.¶ For a special class of sparse channels the VA can be decomposed over a number of independent parallel trellises. This decomposition will be called the Parallel Trellis Viterbi Algorithm and can have lower complexity than the VA yet it retains optimal performance. By relaxing strict sparseness constraints on the channel a sub-optimal approach is proposed which keeps complexity low and obtains good performance.¶ Reduced State Sequence Estimation (RSSE) is a popular technique to reduce complexity. However, its deficiency can be the inability to adequately equalize non-minimum phase channels. For channels that have energy peaks in the tail of the impulse response (post-cursor dominant) RSSE's complexity must be close to the VA or performance will be poor. Using a property of the VA which makes it invariant to channel reversal, TR-RSSE is proposed to extend application of RSSE to post-cursor dominant channels.¶ To further extend the class of channels suitable for RSSE type processing, FBSSD is suggested. This uses a two pass processing method, and is suited to channels that have low energy pre and post-cursor. The first pass generates preliminary estimates used in the second pass to aid the decision process. FBSSD can range from RSSE to TR-RSSE depending on parameter settings.¶ The DFE is obtained when the complexity of RSSE is minimized. Two characterizing properties of the DFE, which are addressed in this thesis, are feedback and quantization. A novel fractionally spaced (FS) DFE structure is presented which allows the quantizer to be generalized relative to the quantizer used in conventional FS-DFEs. The quantizer can be designed according to a maximum a posteriori criterion which takes into account a priori statistical knowledge of error occurrences. A radically different quantizer can be obtained using this technique which can result in significant performance improvements.¶ Due to the feedback nature of the DFE a form of stability can be considered. After a decision error occurs, a stable DFE will, after some finite time and in the absence of noise, operate error free. Passivity analysis provides sufficient conditions to determine a class of channels which insures a DFE will be stable. Under conditions of short channels and small modulation alphabets, it is proposed that conventional passivity analysis can be extended to account for varying operator gains, leading to weaker sufficient conditions for stability (larger class of channels).

This dissertation develops an unclocked receiver analog decision-feedback equalizer (ADFE) circuit architecture and topology and implements the circuit in 0.18-um CMOS to enable 10-Gb/sec serial baseband data transmission over FR-4 backplane and optical fibre. The ADFE overcomes the first feedback-loop latency challenge of traditional digital and mixed-signal DFEs by separating data re-timing from equalization and also eliminates the need for clock-recovery prior to decision-feedback equalization. The ADFE enables 10-Gb/sec decision-feedback equalization using a 0.18-um CMOS process, the first to do so to the author s knowledge. A tuneable current-mode-logic (CML) feedback-loop is designed to enable first post-cursor cancellation for a range of data-rates and to have external control over loop latency over variations in process, voltage and temperature. CML design techniques are used to minimize current consumption and achieve the required voltage swing for decision-feedback to take place. The all-analog equalizer consumes less power and area than comparable state-of-the art DFEs. The ADFE is used to compensate inter-symbol interference (ISI) for 20 inches of FR-4 backplane and 300 m of multi-mode fibre at 10-Gb/sec. The ADFE also extends the reach of single-mode fibre at 10-Gb/sec to 120 km. The work described in this dissertation advances the state-of-the-art in equalization solutions for multi-Gb/sec serial data transmission and can find applications in several of the 10-Gb/sec Ethernet standards that have been approved recently. The contributions of this work toward future research are also discussed.

All digital communication channels are subject to inter-symbol interference (ISI). To achieve the desired system performance, at receiver end, the effect of ISI must be compensated and the task of the equalizer is to combat the degrading effects of ISI on the transmission. Due to the demand of high data transmission rate, the multicarrier modulation (MCM) technique implemented with the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) has been adopted in many modern communications systems for block transmission. In block transmission systems, transmitter-included redundancy using finite-impulse response (FIR) filterbanks can be utilized to suppress inter-block-interference (IBI). However, the length of redundancy will affect the system performance, which is highly dependent on the length of channel impulse response. To deal with the effect of ISI, many equalizing schemes have been proposed, among them the FIR zero-forcing (ZF) equalizer with the non-orthogonal projector provides a useful transceiver design structure for suppressing the IBI and ISI, simultaneously. In this thesis, we propose a new equalizing scheme; it combines the FIR-ZF equalizer with non-orthogonal projector as well as the Bayesian decision feedback equalizer (DFE) for IBI and ISI suppression. The Bayesian DFE is known to be one of the best schemes to achieve the desired performance for eliminating ISI. It can be employed to achieve the full potential of symbol-by-symbol equalizer. That is, after removing the effect of IBI with the non-orthogonal projector, the Bayesian DFE is employed for eliminating the ISI, simultaneously. For comparison, the system performance, in term of bit error rate (BER) is investigated, and compared with the minimum mean square error (MMSE)-IBI-DFE. The advantage of the new proposed equalizing scheme is verified via computer simulation under condition of insufficient redundancy.

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In this thesis the telecommunication problem known as inter-cell interference is examined. Inter-cell interference originates from users in neighboring cells and affects the users in the own cell. The reason that inter-cell interference is interesting to study is that it affects the maximum data-rates achievable in the 3G network. By knowing the inter-cell interference, higher data-rates can be scheduled without risking cell-instability. An expression for the coupling between cells is derived using basic physical principles. Using the expression for the coupling factors a nonlinear model describing the inter-cell interference is developed from the model of the power control loop commonly used in the base stations. The expression describing the coupling factors depends on the positions of users which are unknown. A quasi decentralized method for estimating the coupling factors using measurements of the total interference power is presented. The estimation results presented in this thesis could probably be improved by using a more advanced nonlinear filter, such as a particle filter or an Extended Kalman filter, for the estimation. Different expressions describing the coupling factors could also be considered to improve the result.